Thanks! The sheet metal is far from perfect in some spots, im just trying to make it the best i can with what i have to work with. Theres a small rust hole on the drivers side front fender but that is on the to do list along with a bunch of other things.

This weekend i ordered new tie rod ends and the trim pieces for the top of the cab corners. Hopefully but the end of the week i have the rest of the front end parts on order. Just need to decide between 2" Maxtrac Coils or 3" Doetsch Spindles.

Wayne

 

Also this weekend I thought I'd give wet sanding a try. Now that I see the results I may try and do the rest of the truck.

The picture on the left is after sanding, the picture on the right is after compounding, polishing and waxing. Wish I would have gotten a pic of the tailgate before I sanded it to compare.

Wayne

 

That really brought the paint back to life! I played with my truck this weekend as well. I washed it really good Saturday and gave it a good clay barring and waxing on Sunday. First time I ever did clay barring and I was AMAZED at the difference in the look of the paint. Keep up the good work on your ride. There is a saying: "just a little bit every day". It kind of fits guys like us... if we do just a little bit everyday, the results can be awesome.

 

I couldnt agree more, i have been enjoying working on the truck. Its even better after seeing how the truck looked and ran when i first got it compared to now, huge difference. I have people asking me all the time about selling it. I would have to get TOP dollar for me to break even so i dont see me selling it anytime soon.

Cant wait to finish all the suspension. Once the suspension is done i will try and sell the Cragers and tires so i can put the Cobra wheels on it with a little larger tire. Looking at the 235/65R17 Hankook Dynapro Tires.



Wayne

 

Yesterday I removed one of the fender emblems, sanded it, primed and painted it Dark Shadow Grey. What do you goes think? It's not cleared or mounted for good yet but you get the idea. Excuse my son for photo booming the pic

Before


After


Wayne

 

Looks nice! I'd like to see one of those badges with the chrome replaced with the body color.

 

Yeah, that looks good on the white, nice contrast. Your little guy is cute, too! Future Ranger owner?

 

Thanks, idk if he will have a Ranger or not. A Ford truck for sure, the Ranger is just my DD I have a 13 F-150 as my weekend toy and that's my true baby.


I really want to get a GEN 1 Lightning and built it over the next 15yrs with modern powertrain for him or something like this.


Wayne

 

That would be a great father/son project.

 

Finished Painting and Installing the fender emblems. I have always loved the color Dark Shadow Grey so I sanded, primed, painted and cleared them.



I'm also working on painting the top cab corner trim pieces that were missing when I bought the truck. I was going to keep them black but saw a thread on another forum where a guy painted his and they turned out great! So I decided to paint mine as well.



Wayne

 

It's been a while since I updated this thread.

I hadn't done much in the last couple weeks but did end up painting both fender emblems DSG and reinstalling those. The cab corner trim pieces i painted ended up not bolting up. The studs on the trim pieces were closer together than the holes that were on the cab. I ended up having to remove one of the studs and epoxying it into the correct location. Once installed they cleaned the truck up nicely!

I replaced the burnt out headlight switch bulb with a white LED piece from Buggman! This weekend I swapped out the corner lamp bulbs with LED, replaced the tranny mount with a Energy suspension piece and last but not least installed a UPR Oil Seperator I had left over after upgrading the one on my F150. Not sure if it's going to do much but time will tell.

I got a pile of parts waiting to be installed after I get a couple more things. So far I have collected Moog LCAs, Moog UCAs, Moog Outer Tie Rod Ends, Moog Universal Joints, Moog Coil Spring Isolators, Maxtrac 2" Lift Coils, OEM 2" Rear Blocks, Grade 8 U-Bolts, Energy Suspension Leaf Spring & Shackle Bushings. Only thing I need to still get is shocks. The rears are easy because I can just get shocks for a Edge or 4X4. The front shocks I'm not sure which ones to use. I was thinking possibly the front shocks to a 4X4 or a 2wd ranger shock with torsion bars.

I don't have any pics right now but I'll be sure to update once I get some.
Wayne

 

Keep up the good work, Wayne. Your truck is coming along nicely!

 

Parts Are Stacking Up!!!



Can't wait to get everything installed. The only thing I still need to get is front shocks but I won't be getting those until after I install everything so I can take measurements to see which size I need.

Wayne

 

Got your work cut out for you with that pile of parts!

 

Your truck will ride like a whole new Ranger with all those parts. I'd like to replace the bushings in my control arms one of these days.

 

I was going to replace just the bushings and ball joints in mine but figured why not just for a couple bucks more and a lot less head ache to just replace the entire arms.

Wayne

 

I may go that route later on down the road.

 

Sorry its been a while since the last update. Been busy with a bunch of side jobs and then the holidays.

2 weeks ago i was finally able to install 98% of all the suspension parts/upgrades and got it aligned. The only thing i still need to do is change the bushings on the leaf springs.

I installed Moog UCAs, Moog LCAs, Moog Outer Tie Rod Ends, Maxtrac 2" Lift Coils, Moog Coil Spring Isolaters, Front Shocks, Sway Bar Links, OEM 2" Rear Blocks, U-Bolts, Shackles, Rear Shocks, Energy Tranny Mount, & Universal Joints.

I also removed the peeling black trim piece on the door where it meets the window, sanded it and wrapped it in vinyl. Looks brand new now!

Sorry for the crappie picture, i plan to clean her up this Tomorrow or Tuesday.





Wayne

 

Just need to get around to selling the cragers and tires on it now and getting some tires for the cobra wheels i have for it.

Wayne

 

Looking good, Wayne! :)

 

Looking real good. Nice to see all the parts and hard work come together to make the outcome.

I'm excited to see what it'll look like with those cobra wheels.

 

nice work nice truck i have 1990 that i just got that im putting back together ive posted pictures on the albums site here of what im doing,mine too has alot going on,but its not real bad mainly interior & body to have everything as messed up as it looks all the electric works has real good steering & shifting ,the whole inside of mine is shot,looks like im going to be making some trips to the junkyard,theres a place close to me has any year ranger you can come up with there so finding stuff is not going to be bad
keep up the good work

 

Got her all cleaned up this past weekend.

Wayne

 

Man, she cleans up nice! I know you plan on putting on some Cobra wheels, but I think those Cragars look great on her! :)

 

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Since my last up date I havnt done much, just a couple things. Mostly just been driving the crap out of it. Since last July when I bought it I’ve put 21K miles on it and have enjoyed every mile. Even more excited that I’ve kept 21K miles off my F150.

Few things I’ve done but not picked was remove the spare tire, clean and sanded the rim and painted it black. When installing it I flipped the wheel so that the valve stem is accessible. Installed a 7 pin trailer plug off a F250 I had laying around and put a oil separator one her since it was just collecting dust in the shop from when o upgraded the one on my F150.

The only mods I have pics of are the best. By far the best mod I’ve done to the truck. Installed some Raptor style grill lights, LED Switchbacks and replaced the faded old cloudy headlights with new ones. BUT before I installed them I sent them to my buddy Dan @ DC Customs to have him retrofit a set of HID Projectors in them. The light output is amazing.
While they were being built!


Completed!


Retrofitted HID on the left VS cheapo PNP HID in a cloudy housing on the right.


Cutoff!!


Front view of Raptor grill lights and headlights.


I’m thinking the next mod will be a 4x4 bumper/valance with factory fogs to get rid of those goofy looking LED cubes.

Wayne